The 2009 Kew Gardens 50p coin is the rarest of post decimalization circulating commemoratives. The Royal Mint plans to reissue the coin as part of a new commemorative set. (Royal Mint image)

Numismatic news coming out of the United Kingdom is that after seeing the collector price of 50 pence circulating commemorative coins rise, the Royal Mint will be reissuing many of those coins.

Using the designs of some of the most popular coins being traded online, the Royal Mint will be issuing two sets of five commemorative coins to celebrate the 50p coin’s 50th anniversary.

The 50p coin was introduced in 1969 as part of the UK’s transition to decimalization following the introduction of new 5p (to replace the shilling) and 10p (to replace the florin) coins. As the coins began to circulate, some of the lower denominations were withdrawn. On February 15, 1971, British merchants stopped issuing coins that were based on the 240 pence-based Pound and issued change using the decimalization currency known as New Pounds.

Although the coins will be issued as part of commemorative sets with 2019 dates, some feel that the Royal Mint is doing this to manipulate the market to reduce the collector value of its coins. Officials of the Royal Mint has denied the accusation.

Could the reissue of coins with previous designs hurt the value of the collectors market? In the United States, collectors demand the use of classic designs and that has had no impact on the collector market. However, the coins were issued as part of precious metals programs that has almost no competition with the collectible coin market. When was the last time someone decided that the Walking Liberty half-dollar was not worth collecting because the American Silver Eagle uses the same design?

If the Royal Mint mint limits the issue of the coins to the sets they announced, then the awareness of the coins could enhance the British collectors market. However, if the Royal Mint changes their mind and issues the coins for circulation, the collector market could be impacted in a manner similar to the general collectibles market of the 1980s where companies overproduced and overhyped their products.

Tap-and-go payments and the decline of coins are hurting the Royal Australian Mint despite its plan to make up lost revenue with a rise in profits from selling collectors' items and manufacturing currencies for countries overseas. → Read more at smh.com.au

What happens when a policy that was supported by a popular vote becomes less popular? You get the situation that the British government faces as Brexit inches closer to its March 2019 execution.

On June 23, 2016, the people of the United Kingdom held a referendum as to whether the country should leave the European Union. The vote and process has been called “Brexit,” a portmanteau of the term “Britain Exit,” as in should Britain exit the E.U.?

Brexit won by a very slim margin.

Chard, a UK coin dealer, created a copper and bronze Brexit medal for the “undecided voters” to flip on election day. They are still available on Chard’s website.

Chard Brexit copper token—IN side

Chard Brexit copper token—OUT side

Chard Brexit Abyssinian Gold token—IN side

Chard Brexit Abyssinian Gold token—OUT side

As a result of the Brexit vote, the British Parliament voted to complete the Brexit process in March 2019 and the Prime Minister resigned. PM David Cameron was against Brexit and felt that someone else should lead the government who favored the process. Theresa May was selected to be Britain’s second female Prime Minister and will lead the country through Brexit.

However, polls in Britain show that Brexit is no longer as popular as it was in 2016. These polls were taken following the announcement that the Royal Mint mint will be producing a 50-pence coin commemorating Brexit next March.

Although the coin has yet to be designed, the British tabloids, especially those who have soured on Brexit, have been running editorials with anti-Brexit mockups. With these mock-ups frequently appearing in Britain’s newspapers, polls are showing that the pre-Brexit election support of nearly 49-percent has eroded to 37-percent.

Opinions on the concept of a Brexit coin are almost evenly split with 37-percent in favor of the coin, 34-percent against, and 29-percent with no comment or opinion.

In the United States, the only way to raise public passion about a coin is for it to have an error, such as the “Godless Dollars” for coins missing their edge lettering and the motto “In God We Trust.” Otherwise, only we numismatists care.

View photosMore A special 50p is just one of the many changes Britain’s departure from the UK will bring. The commemorative coin, which is expected to carry the words “Friendship With All Nations” will be available from March 29 – the day the UK leaves the EU. → Read more at finance.yahoo.com

New collectors' coins commemorating statesman Ignacy Jan Paderewski are to be released on Tuesday, in a year in which Poland marks its independence centenary. Paderewski's is the fourth coin in a series issued by the National Bank of Poland. → Read more at thenews.pl

“II am visiting this gallery for the second time in a month,” says Ayushi, a New Delhi-based history honours student. “The glimpse into the past is so fascinating that I have brought along my friends to have a first-hand experience of the remarkable collection of Indian currency,” she adds. → Read more at gulfnews.com

Increased gold buying by consumers and central banks pushed overall demand for the yellow metal up slightly in the third quarter, according to the World Gold Council's Gold Demand Trends 2018 Report. → Read more at seekingalpha.com

2014 £2 coin commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the start of World War I is one of the coins the British tabloids watch.

Since the Bank of England transitioned from the old round pound to the new 12-sided pound coin, the British tabloids have been watching the online auctions, primarily eBay, to sensationalize the price of coins being bought-and-sold by collectors.

Most of the coins were circulating commemorative 50 pence, one and two-pound coins ranging from the coin commemorating the end of slavery in England to Peter Rabbit commemorating the work of Beatrix Potter.

While searching the internet for numismatic-related news, there is at least one tabloid writing about yet another find and how someone sold it for thousands of pounds on eBay. After tweeting one of those stories, a British collector responded and we had an email conversation about the stories.

According to my correspondent, it seems that the tabloids are making more out of the story than necessary. Using the information from my correspondent, I began to watch the eBay UK auction results.

Although it is true that some of these coins are selling for hundreds and even thousands of pounds, most of the buyers are not from the UK. According to one eBay seller, most of his buyers were from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Another seller said that finding one in pocket change, as suggested by the tabloid, is not going to make anyone rich. The coins that are selling at high multiples are uncirculated coins pulled from rolls they purchased from the Royal Mint.

Not all of the coins are selling at high prices. One seller said that he sold most of a roll to people from the European Union for a few euros plus shipping. While they are making money, they are not getting rich as suggested by the tabloids.

The tabloids have been helpful in raising awareness for some of these coins. In the past, one person said she would buy three or four rolls of the 50 pence coins and would sell them over time. She had rolls at least five years old before it became a topic in the tabloids.

Coin roll hunting became instantly popular throughout the UK. Some banks report that there is a higher demand for rolls of 50p coins than usual. The demands coincide with the report of another coin being sold for thousands of pounds on eBay.

If there is good news in this, the UK error collectors are finding fresh material. With so many people looking closely at the coins they receive in change and from the bank, more errors are appearing in the collector market. But the increased supply without a similar increase in demand has kept the prices down. Error collectors are afraid that once people realize that this is not a credible get-rich-quick scheme, the number of people looking for errors will diminish.

Bangladesh Bank established the museum, the first of its kind in the country, beside the Bangladesh Bank Training Academy with a collection of over three thousand coins and currency notes → Read more at dhakatribune.com

It’s a hobby for Garrison Garrow, and his efforts are renowned.Garrow, of Akwesasne, designed the new Royal Canadian Mint collector coin ($30), which was unveiled recently at McGill Universit… → Read more at standard-freeholder.com

The Bulgarian National Bank has issued (17th September) the fifth entry in a series of coins entitled “Medieval Bulgarian Rulers,” which has been issued intermittently since 2011. The latest coin features the Bulgarian ruler Ivan Asen II (circa. → Read more at novinite.com

News out of the United Kingdom was that the Bank of England was thinking about eliminating the copper 1 penny and 2 pence coins. The discussion came from a blog post on the website Bank Underground, an independent blog written by Bank of England staff commenting on the Bank’s policies. The post suggested that there would be “a negligible impact on inflation, with the average impact being negative but not statistically different from zero.”

The economists that wrote the blog post has used the same argument that many others have used: the rising cost of copper and the reduced purchasing power makes the coin not worth minting.

In response, the Bank of England said that it was not considering eliminating the 1p and 2p coins.

Unfortunately, the Bank of England economists’ post will become fodder for those that want to eliminate the one-cent coin in the United States. The argument will repeat the same themes that the blog post outline as proof that this could be done.

The problem is that regardless of the position, using the arguments generated from data that does not consider social and economic information from the United States makes the using this as an example irrelevant or spurious at best.

A block below Central Park in Manhattan, an unassuming shop appears, from the vantage point of sidewalk passersby, old, dusty, and uninteresting. Yet it contains treasures. In billboard-laden New York City, the boutique’s beige awning barely snatches a glance. → Read more at fortune.com

AGARTALA: A commemorative gold coin to honour Maharaja Bir Bikram Manikya has been launched on the occasion of the 110th birth anniversary of 'Tripura's last king'. The coin was released at a special Independence Day function at Ujjayanta Palace – the seat of the Manikya dynasty – by chief minister Biplab Deb, who was accompanied at the event by deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma, who is a member of the royal family, and the Maharaja's granddaughter Maharajkumari Pragya Deb Burman. → Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com

RIGA — The whole mintage of the new silver collector coin dedicated to the Curonian Kings, a cultural group of free Latvian peasants that for many centuries inhabited seven villages in western Latvia, has been sold out at Bank of Latvia Cashier’s Offices, the central bank’s spokesman Janis Silakalns told LETA. → Read more at baltictimes.com

The Royal Australian Mint is paying homage to a group of iconic Ford and Holden race cars from the likes of Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Dick Johnson and Craig Lowndes in a new series. Two fresh collections feature seven, uncirculated 50cent coins each from Ford and Holden chronicling the success of the brands in Australian motorsport. → Read more at supercars.com

Bank of England economists have reignited the debate over the future of 1p and 2p coins, arguing their removal from circulation would not stoke inflation. In a blog post on Wednesday the analysts said their work and the “overwhelming” evidence suggested the withdrawal of coppers would have “no significant impact on prices”. → Read more at theguardian.com

THE Bank of England is considering plans to scrap the one and two pence coins. It comes after economists claimed that scrapping 1p and 2p coins would not push up inflation. Here’s the latest… → Read more at thesun.co.uk

When news comes out of the United Kingdom it is fun to read how the British tabloids write about them. They have a way with their words that make no doubt about where they stand.

Philip Hammond has branded a ‘penny-pincher’ after revealing shock plans to scrap 1p and 2p coins (Courtesy of The Sun)

This past week, the tabloids had their fun poking at Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who suggested that the country no longer produce 1p and 2p coins. He also questioned whether it was to the country’s advantage to eliminate the £50 note.

Chancellor of the Exchequer is to the United Kingdom as the Secretary of the Treasury is to the United States.

During Hammond’s review of the treasury, he said that since 500 million 1p and 2p coins fall out of circulation every year that it might be a good idea to eliminate them.

Hammond is a member of the Conservative Party. Following his statements on the State of the Treasury, MP (Member of Parliament) Wes Streeting, a member of the Labour Party, referred to Hammond as “this penny pincher Chancellor.”

That opened the tabloids and other opposition parties to attack Hammond and the Tories. Much like the argument against eliminating the one-cent coin in the United States, those against removing those coins worry about squeezing the poor a few pennies at a time (allegedly) making their situation worse.

For the £50 note, Hammond cites studies about its use in organized crime for physical payments. However, studies show that the criminals are more apt to use the 500€ note, while it is still in circulation, the 100&euro note, and the $100 Federal Reserve Note. Even with the strong exchange rate being strong on the pound sterling, it is more advantageous for criminals to use higher denomination banknotes.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who has the final say, gave the British press a non-committal statement following the opposition attack. Of course, that opened her up to being called whishy-washy by the tabloids.

Whether a modern quarter displaying a U.S. national park or a rare, hand-hammered Greek denarius dating back to 250 A.D., history is woven throughout the process and story of all coins, tokens and currencies, according to Monte Mensing, president of the Springfield Coin Club. → Read more at registerguard.com

GAYLORD — When Kandus Schalter received a “challenge coin” from Matt Barresi, director of the Gaylord Regional Airport, she thought she might just keep it in her wallet. But Frank Jasinski thought Schalter, a World War II veteran and local businesswoman with strong ties to the community, should be able to wear it proudly, so he offered to take it to Hogan’s Jewelers, to put a hole and catch in it. → Read more at petoskeynews.com

On Monday, March 12, the National Bank of Ukraine introduces a commemorative coin "The Day of the Ukrainian Volunteer". This was reported by the press service of the bank. The nominal value of the coin is 10 UAH, metal is a zinc-based alloy, the circulation is 1 million pieces. → Read more at 112.international

The Treasury could be paving the way for the end of 1p and 2p coins as it seeks views on the future of cash. It is inviting comments on the mix of coins in circulation as consumers move to non-cash payments such as contactless and digital spending. → Read more at bbc.com

Utility workers in the Netherlands struck gold while laying drain pipe at a construction site earlier this month. The employees of Oasen, a water supply company, unearthed a collection of nearly 500 coins in a glazed cooking pot dating back to the 15th century, the NL Times reported — 12 of them gold and the remaining silver. → Read more at nydailynews.com

10p “B” reverse for “Bond… James Bond!” issued by the Royal Mint (Royal Mint Image)

Interesting numismatic-related news out of the week is coming out of the United Kingdom. The Royal Mint has introduced 26 special 10 pence coins, with each reverse having a letter of the alphabet and an image representing that letter. For example, the 10p coin with “A” honors the Angel of the North landmark in Gateshead and “B” for “Bond… James Bond.”

All 26 coins have been added to circulation and the Royal Mint is promoting the coins with the hashtag #coinhunt on social media.

For those collecting the coins, the Royal Mint is offering a special album and an app that can be used in the hunt. For those of us outside of the United Kingdom, you can purchase the coins online on the Royal Mint’s website.

It is an interesting idea that could translate to the United States. Let’s see what happens before making that proposal.

A new exhibition at the National Hellenic Museum which will open March 4, will feature the story of coins from early use in ancient Greece to today. Titled “Change: The Story of Coins”, the exhibition will include an interactive display which will highlight how coins are important financial, cultural and political tools. → Read more at usa.greekreporter.com

The National Bank of Poland has issued a special coin commemorating a hero of the Polish struggle for independence. General August Emil Fieldorf (nom de guerre “Nil”), a hero of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920 and of World War II, was arrested by the communist authorities in 1950. → Read more at thenews.pl

The Capital City Coin Club will be hosting its 98th Annual Trade Show on Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25, at the Bismarck Eagles Club, 313 North 26th St. Saturday hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday hours will be from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. → Read more at jamestownsun.com

Sixty two year-old amateur metal detector Richard Patterson found a rare coin from the third century in a field in Winchester, Hampshire. It has now sold at auction for £10,000 ($14,000). → Read more at dailymail.co.uk

February sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle gold coins fell 80 percent from the same month a year earlier, the slowest February sales in 11 years, while February silver coin sales fell to the lowest since 2008, government data showed on Wednesday. → Read more at reuters.com

Recently, at the monthly Veterans Coffee held at the Gaylord Regional Airport, I presented a World War II veteran with our airport Challenge Coin. A guest at the event approached → Read more at petoskeynews.com

Queuing, cricket and tea represent what it means to be British, according to the Royal Mint, which has launched a new collection of 10 pence coins to showcase the &amp;quot;A to Z of what makes Britain great&amp;quot;. → Read more at telegraph.co.uk

As you read this, the old round £1 coins have ceased to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.

British news outlets are reporting that millions of the old round pounds are still in circulation but that might not be bad news for many Britons. There are reports that many coin-operated systems have not been converted to take the new 12-sided £1 coin including supermarkets, where a £1 pound coin is necessary to “rent” a trolley, what the British call their shopping cart.

Two of the U.K.’s largest grocery store chains have announced they will continue to accept the round pound through the end of October because their trolley systems are not ready.

Charities are getting into the act by accepting the old round pound as donations. Many charities will continue to accept the coin through the final redemption period in March 2018 as donations. The charities are working with banks to deposit the coins.

It has been fascinating to read the news of how the U.K. has tried to adapt to the new coin. The biggest issue has been with the use of coin-operated equipment like trolley rentals and parking meters. It is a lesson to any active economy, such as her in the United States, as to what could happen should the composition of U.S. coins change.

Although there have been discussions as to whether to change the composition of United States coinage, it is not likely to happen for many reasons. What may be gaining support is dropping the $1 Federal Reserve Note in favor of a dollar coin. This would not require changes in coin-operated systems but a change in attitudes. Given how resilient Americans can be, it would be possible to end production of the $1 FRN and just endure the kvetching that will ensue. That will end when people get used the coin.

LeRoy Transfield A photo of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, Native Contingent. Utah sculptor LeRoy Transfield had two uncles who served in the unit during World War I. → Read more at deseretnews.com

The discovery of gold rings and coins on a Swedish island sheds new light on the history of the area, and could give insight into the motives for a massacre which took place in the fifth century, archaeologists told The Local on Wednesday. → Read more at thelocal.se

Shoppers have one day left to spend their old round £1 coins before they cease to become legal tender at midnight. Hundreds of millions of round pounds are yet to be handed in, as only hours remain before the coin drops out of general circulation. However, major banks and building societies have said they will continue to accept the old coins after the deadline on Sunday. They can also be deposited into any of the usual high street banks or through the Post Office. → Read more at independent.co.uk

As the British are winding down the use of the Round Pound, stories are once again popping up about errors of the new 12-sided pound coin being sold for high prices on eBay.

Although the Royal Mint has admitted to manufacturing issues in trying to produce enough new pound coins to satisfy circulation requirements, their claim that the number of errors where the center are missing of the bi-metallic coins is likely post-minting errors.

A weak strike can prevent the two metals from fusing properly allowing them to separate

In other words, they are suggesting that people are removing the centers of the coin to claim they are errors.

To better understand why it is being claimed these are post-mint errors, I contacted a European-based dealer who has relationships with many of the continent’s mints. What follows is a summary of his explanation.

The Royal Mint coins money in a process similar to any other mint. Planchets are prepared, sent the coining press, stamped, dumped into a hopper, and sent down a conveyor where they are bagged. The bags are weight to a precise weight before the bags are accepted. Along the way, there are cameras and other sensors to detect errors.

All of the checks and sensors, including the weight of the coin, would be caught long before reaching the bagging section. Aside from the dimensions not being correct, the weight of the ring or center by themselves would not be up to the standard.

It is possible that the coins could separate in the bags during transport. However, these coins are transported to government authorized handlers. Some of them are similar to the companies that drive armored trucks here in the United States. They take the coins and prepare them for delivery to the banks.

The preparation process requires coins to be counted, rolled, and bagged. As part of the process, the coins are loaded into a system that transfers them to an automated line that brings the coins by conveyor to a machine that will either roll them or dump them in a bag. In both cases, the contents are limited by the amount they hold.

As part of the automated system, the coins are counted and check for size and weight so that if there are any coins that do not meet the Royal Mint’s standards are removed. The automated system would catch the ring and the center if they separated before the process.

Coins that are to be rolled are sent to a machine to roll them where they are counted and placed in rolls of £25 each. Those rolls are for bank and retail use and handled accordingly.

Bagged coins are used by bulk handlers such as the coin-op industry. Bags with £100 of coins are counted before being placed in the bag. If the coin cannot be verified before it is placed in the bag then the coin is rejected.

Is it possible for the coin to separate in the £100 pound bag prior to circulation? Of course, it is. However, there is one more check before the coins reach the consumer, and that is the coin-op machine itself.

Coin-op machines have mechanisms to try to prevent accepting counterfeit money and to ensure it is giving the proper change. Machines just do not eject any coin in its hopper. These checks include the weight, dimensions, and magnetic signature. The magnetic signature measures what happens after magnetic energy is flashed on the coin. Think about it as measuring how the coin would reflect light but use magnetism instead.

A pound coin that had separated would not pass the magnetic signature test and be rejected.

Although there are a number of points along the process that could fail, the number of checks between the Royal Mint and the consumer, it is highly unlikely that all of these separated pound coins exist.

It is possible that the coins being sold are from the reject bins of coin-op machines. However, the dealer I spoke with is suspicious of the number of coins being sold.

Trial strikes found without the effigy of Queen Elizabeth, II

This dealer told me that he will not buy 12-sided pound coins dated 2016 without their centers. Technically, they are not coins because they originally did not have the portrait of Queen Elizabeth on the front. Under British law, all legal tender coins must have the image of the monarch on the front. In 2016, the Royal Mint created about 2000 of these 12-sided test slugs for businesses to test coin-op systems ahead of the conversion. The dealer community has serious doubts that the test slugs had these errors and believes that people separated the centers from the rings.

My dealer contact said that nobody should pay more than “three-and-a-half quid” (£3.50 or $4.64 at the current exchange rate) for just a 12-sided pound outer ring. Even if it is not a legitimate Royal Mint error it is a nice conversation piece.

Examples of legitimate 12-sided £1 coin errors

Too hard of a strike is likely to have caused the copper-nickel center to melt across the coin.

Victoria Cleland, Chief Cashier at the Bank of England, presenting the Churchill War Rooms with their New Fiver

Last year, vegan activists in the United Kingdom became apoplectic when they discovered that the manufacture of the pellets used to make the substrate for the polymer banknotes contained trace amounts of tallow.

Tallow is made from suet, the fatty deposits around the organs of cows and sheep. It is a byproduct of the process of butchering a cow for its meat and hides. In its natural form, suet is only used for cooking and some preservation. When it is rendered (by boiling) into tallow, it is used to manufacture soap, candles, and lubricants. The use of tallow in even the most synthetic lubricant is ubiquitous. Machines used to harvest crops or grease moving parts in automobiles have tallow in them.

Since the uproar from vegan activists, the Bank of England spent a lot of time and a lot of money to research the environmental and social impact of tallow in the notes.

The amount of paperwork that was generated for this issue is astounding. They looked at everything from the use of alternative lubricants, like palm oil, to the religious and social impacts to Her Majesty’s loyal subjects. In the final report, the Bank of England even summarized the response when they reached out to “representative groups,” both religious and activists organizations.

All that time and money led to the decision to “ not change the composition of the polymer used for future notes.” Why? Because the costs and environmental impact to using alternatives like palm oil would be more expensive, the notes have such low amounts of tallow, typically less than 0.05-percent (five-one-hundredths of a percent) of derived animal products, and the rest of the community just does not see this as a problem!

It is like I said in my original post, they are probably breathing more dander in a single day than they are touching tallow in all of the polymer banknotes that cross their paths. Tallow is used in all sorts of lubrication products, especially those used in transportation. It is everywhere.

I hope the vegans can either learn to live within society’s decisions or find another way to pay for goods and services, like using credit cards.

The reasons why counterfeiters are successful is that people do not pay attention. Even when people do allegedly pay attention, it is almost as if the brain is not engaging.

A report from the U.K. says that people returning from mainland Europe are trying to pass euros because they look like the new £1 coin.

Obverse of the new 2017 12-sided £1 coin

Standard obverse of the €1 coin

Although both coins are bi-metallic, the new pound coin is 12-sided meaning that there are 12 distinct “corners” that should be able to be felt on the coin. The euro is round with a milled edge that should have a different feel.

Even though the outer ring of both coins is made of nickel-brass, the ring of the euro coin is thinner than the outer ring of the new 12-sided pound coin.

The final clue in telling the difference is that the pound coin, like all legal tender coins minted by the Royal Mint, the coin features the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II while the euro features a map of Europe and the denomination.

The cost for not paying attention is a loss of about 9 pence since one euro is worth about 91 pence.

Two of the rarest one cent coins ever made have sold at auction for a combined total close to half a million dollars. A 1943 Lincoln Penny fetched $282,000 while a 1792 Birch Cent which had been thought to have been lost for 130 years sold for $211,500. → Read more at dailymail.co.uk

HOLDREGE — Robert Kinkaid of Lexington had worked to get the book “Forgotten Colorado Silver” published since 1982. His efforts paid off, and the book was published this year. One of the authors, Robert D. → Read more at kearneyhub.com

The new £5 Prince Philip coin that has been released to celebrate his 70 years of service could be worth a fortune in the future. The coin costs £13 to pre-order through the Royal Mint and will be shipped in late August. → Read more at metro.co.uk

UK’s Royal Mint will supply Argentina with 150 million peso coins, after the institution won a contract to assist with the minting of a new coin series. Announced on social media by UK chancellor Philip Hammond, the mint will work closely with its Argentine counterpart – Sociedad del Estado Casa de Moneda – to produce blanks for the new coin series. → Read more at en.mercopress.com

Holidaymakers returning from Europe are trying to pass off euro coins as the new pound coins in British shops because they look so similar. Shopkeepers are warning staff to be vigilant after noticing the huge increase in one euro coins being found in takings. → Read more at metro.co.uk

His initials are on every British coin minted since 2015, but who is the Jiu Jitsu enthusiast who designed the Queen's head, despite never having met her? He is an artist whose most famous portrait has been reproduced billions of times, and you probably have one in your pocket right now. → Read more at bbc.com

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